« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 26 March 13 21:07 GMT (UK) »
David, I suggest that you do some research on the subject of "irregular marriages" in Scotland. I had occasion to do the same a while back, but I no longer remember the circumstances. Regarding the marriage of a younger sister subsequent to the death of the first wife, I have several instances among my relatives in the USA. One was a McDonald and the great-grandson of a Scottish emigrant. He was a doctor of divinity and professor of ancient languages at an Episcopal seminary. He and his wife were both from New York families but he was serving in Ohio when it was still a frontier. His first wife died in 1809 shortly after delivering their first child, a son. From what I can gather, the younger sister was sent from New York to Ohio to care for the infant and married the professor two years later. The younger sister of the first wife became the mother of eight children, all of them boys. After the the untimely death of the professor, his surviving wife moved into the household of her nephew rather than the household of any one of her own eight sons.
Campbell, McDonald, Sprague, Dunsmore, Altgelt, Paterson, Gordon, Rennie, Gorrie, Myles, Forbes, Stewart, Robertson, Scott, McEwan, MacCallum, McLagan, Perth, Dull, Lanark, Airdrie, Campbeltown, Saddell, Kessington, Cochno, Milngavie, Rutherglen, Kilsyth, Dundee, Killin, Ferryport-on-Craig, Kirkintilloch, Ohio, New York, Inverness-shire, Blair Atholl, Mathie